


Winter Sucks (Sometimes)

by MarchThorn



Category: One Piece
Genre: Friends to Lovers, I tag him as v-nsmoke against my will, Love Confessions, M/M, Modern AU, Mutual Pining, let me tag him as sanji please
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25981774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarchThorn/pseuds/MarchThorn
Summary: Sanji says winter sucks. Zorosomehowproves him wrong.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 30
Kudos: 182





	Winter Sucks (Sometimes)

"It's fuckin’ freezing out there!"

Zoro opens his eye as the door slams behind what appears to be a monster made solely from thick winter coats. 

"Hello to you too, shit cook." Seems like meditation will end a bit early today. Zoro glances at the clock. The hands point straight down reading 6:30. Well, looks like meditation will end a lot late today. Two hours extra to his normal routine. Not bad, but not great for his schedule; he planned to work out at 4:30. Rolling his left shoulder, he glances to the man peeling off his countless coats and toeing off his boots in the doorframe. "Why are you here?"

Sanji gives him a look of puzzlement. "Didn't you read my text?" Zoro shakes his head no.

"I was meditating."

Sanji snorts. "Figures. You didn’t get my text because you were sleeping." Zoro tries to cut him off to argue, but Sanji raises his hand to stop him. "Sorry. Meditating." The sarcasm and the air quotes show nothing but utmost insincerity, but Zoro lets it slide, just like he has every time before. "I texted you an hour ago. Had some leftover ingredients at work so might as well share the wealth with the uncultured moss." 

The ingredients in the cook’s arms look nothing like what they use at the restaurant, but Zoro keeps his mouth shut. He has learned not to point out Sanji's weird tricks to see him. It's been like this for years, ever since their freshman year of high school together. When he finally pointed it out after the third strange encounter, the bruise left on his shin didn't disappear for a month. Even if he won't say it out loud, the blond man's kicks hurt and pointing out the obvious weirdness of his visits is not worth his wrath. The food that comes along with the cook is pretty damn tasty, so, not getting kicked and getting good food with it? Zoro counts that as a win, even if the standards are low. 

After what seems like hours, the blond escapes from his woolen prison and gleefully makes his way to the kitchen a free man. Zoro, content lounging on the floor in his living room, makes no effort to follow him. No use being hospitable to the shit cook; the way he effortlessly glides around the kitchen is as if he already lives here. Zoro wouldn’t be surprised if Sanji set up camp in there, with how often he’s dropped by since the beginning of winter. The blond would pop in at least three times a week, and almost every day if the snow got really heavy. Zoro wouldn't even be surprised if his neighbors thought he had gotten a roommate. Stupid nosy neighbors. 

Zoro stretches out his limbs, still numb after three hours of meditation. He should really set a timer in the future, but he knows he won't. Sanji walks into the living room and throws himself face first on the couch with as much elegance as a sack of rocks. He groans.

"Winter sucks."

"Why?" Zoro cracks his neck, receiving a disgusted look from Sanji.

"Because it sucks. And it's cold. I almost froze my ass off out there!" 

Zoro turns to the blond man, tucking his hands under his chin and stares at the other’s behind.

"What ass?" 

Sanji bolts to his feet, bending over to look Zoro in the eye. "Excuse me? Did you just say _what ass_?" 

Zoro gives a curt nod. Sanji gasps in shock as if Zoro had slaughtered his mother in front of him.

"All I see are two scrawny twigs you seem to call legs attached to a torso. No ass in sight."

"Excuse me! My ass is quite voluptuous! And my legs are not twigs!" 

Zoro scuttles around the man to get a good look at the body part in question."When did they change the definition of voluptuous to mean concave?" 

"Concave?! Fuck you,” the blond sputters. Crossing his arms and huffing, he glares down at the other man. "You're an ass."

Zoro's eyes gleam. "At least that means I have one." Snickering to himself, Zoro watches as Sanji's face slowly turns red in... embarrassment? Rage? Most likely a combination of the two, but the scowl remains on his face. Slowly rising to his feet, Zoro taps Sanji's eyebrow. "Your eyebrow is gonna untwirl if you keep scowling like that." He proceeds to flick him in the forehead and quickly flee to the kitchen. An undignified screech follows his escape and Zoro turns to face a foot slowly closing in on his nose. Blocking it with his forearm, he swiftly sidesteps around Sanji, sweeps out his feet and pins him to the ground on his back by practically sitting on the other man. Sanji hits the tile floor with a loud thud.

"Fuck that hurt! Watch my back you Neanderthal!" 

Zoro's eyes widen. "Ah shit! Sorry, forgot about that injury." He shuffles off of the other man and helps him sit up, then plops right down next to him.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. It only acts up when people slam me into the ground." Sanji teases. "Nice takedown, by the way. Wonder where you learned that from." 

Zoro smirks. "Just from some assless guy I know." He receives a playful elbow in the gut. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to take away his breath for a second. The silence that follows is comforting, like a soft blanket on a chilly evening. Zoro glances over to Sanji. A soft smile sits on his face. "What are you smiling about?"

"Hm?" Sanji turns to him and blinks owlishly.

"I said what are you smiling about?" 

Sanji exhales softly, the smile never leaving his face."Just how we were when we first met." 

Zoro chuckles. "Not much has changed, has it?" 

Sanji chuckles with him. "For some things." He pauses, the smiler turning softer, fonder. "But there are others that have." 

Zoro raises an eyebrow. "Oh? Give me an example." Zoro knows one already. His heart knows.

"We would never do this." The blond gestures vaguely.

"Sit together?"

"Be caring, I suppose."

Zoro awkwardly smiles, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, we hated each other huh? But look at us now." He nudges Sanji with his shoulder. "Sitting on the floor in my kitchen after you came over uninvited." Sanji nudges back.

"It wouldn't have been uninvited if you checked your phone." Sanji looks straight ahead. "I know I don't say it often, but I'm happy we're… you know."

"Friends?"

It hurts to say, but that is all they are. All they ever will be. He knows Sanji, and sometimes it feels like he knows Sanji better than he knows himself. It makes sense - they have known each other since childhood, being forced to spend time together because their parents were friends. He had watched the man make so, so many stupid mistakes and teased him ‘til they physically fought. He knew what his actual smile looked like, what emotions his rage covered up, the way his face lit up when someone complimented his food, how his ears turned red when he got embarrassed, and how quickly Sanji would attack him after he got embarrassed. He’d seen him at his worst, his best, his lowest, his highest. He watched the cook fall in love. 

He met Sanji's first girlfriend when they were sixteen and witnessed Sanji's first love blossom over the next couple months. The next two years passed, Sanji’s devotion never waning until that fateful winter night when he found out his girlfriend had been cheating the entire time. Zoro walked out of his front door to find Sanji sitting on his front porch, head in his hands. The blond sat, tears in his eyes and explained the horrible truth he had just discovered. Zoro knew what Sanji’s broken heart looked like as he sat in the cold snow slowly melting under him, the lanky blond breaking down asking if he was not good enough to love. He knew how Sanji stiffened with human contact as he dragged him into his chest and wrapped his arms around the heartbroken cook. He knew how Sanji’s body shook as the dam broke and he sobbed into Zoro’s chest. He knew how desperately Sanji needed someone to be there as the blond clutched Zoro’s back as he wailed. He knew, as the blond gripped him tightly as if he were his last lifeline, that Zoro would do anything for Sanji. He knew that after that moment they became closer than ever before. He also knew how the cook smiled, actually smiled, at him after that night. And Zoro knew Sanji would be the only one to have complete and utter control over his heart.

He knows this man, it is ingrained onto his very soul. Zoro knows Sanji, Zoro trusts Sanji, and Zoro loves Sanji. It has been this way for years, since the very beginning. And because of these things Zoro knows Sanji won't love him back the same way.

A long pause fills the empty air between them. 

"Yeah. Friends." 

Zoro doesn't know why, but after the blond’s response he knows the smile on Sanji's face is not the same smile as before. This one seems sadder, as if he’s just lost everything in a matter of seconds. That small smile makes Zoro's heart clench. He coughs.

"Only friends? Here I thought we were best friends, but I guess I was wrong." Zoro sighs dramatically and places the back of his hand on his forehead. "Oh whatever shall I do? The betrayal from the spiral prince has crushed my spirits." The elbow he receives to the gut is a little harder this time.

The silence is no longer comforting, the soft blanket stripped away, leaving only the chill from the cold winter’s air. Zoro shifts. He knows something is wrong with Sanji, but for the first time, he does not know why.

Zoro's heart hurts.

~~~~

Friends. Best friends. _Only_ friends. Never destined to be anything more than friends. Sanji knows this. He _knows_ it. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt every time he hears it, every time he thinks it. Zoro will never return his feelings. And Sanji doesn't want to scare the man away with his confession, but it is getting harder and harder to pretend that his heart doesn't break a little more every day. The winter season doesn't help his diminishing spirit.

He hears Zoro clear his throat.

"So… you were bitching about winter before. Why do you hate it so much?"

Sanji opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. He slowly shuts it. Zoro wants to know why he hates winter so much. It would be easy to lie, to say it’s because of the cold. But that's not the full truth. Sure, the temperature makes his nose run and fingers numb, but it goes deeper than that.

"You don't have to tell me the truth." 

Sanji's head snaps to look at Zoro. "How did you..." 

The green haired man shrugs.

"You furrow your brow and gnaw at your lip when you’re contemplating stuff." He glances at Sanji. "You don't have to tell me the truth if you don't want to. No big deal."

Sanji brings his knees close to his chest and wraps his arms around them. He wants to tell him, but admitting things was never Sanji's strong suit.

"... it feels lonely." His voice is so soft, Sanji may not have even spoken. But Zoro is listening.

"What do you mean by lonely?" 

Sanji rests his chin on his knees.

"It just… makes me feel lonely. Like I’m in a room filled with people who all ignore my existence. That I’m insignificant and need to be hidden away below the snow and no one would even bat an eye at my disappearance." He takes a shaky breath. "The cold just reminds me that there is no one by my side.”

"You aren't insignificant."

"Sometimes it's hard to remember that."

The silence returns, weighing on them both. Sanji tucks his head between his knees while shame washes over him. Saying it out loud makes the hatred, the fear, more real. More overbearing. Suffocating. Like he’s drowning in his own insecurities and self loathing, all while alone in the world. 

A hand clasps his shoulder.

"C'mon. Get up." Zoro practically drags the other man to his feet. "We’re going out."

"Out? What do you mean, out?"

"Out as in outside. Let's go." Zoro all but shoves him towards the front door.

"But I don't want to go out!" Sanji exclaims, trying to worm his way out of the other man's grip.

"Too bad. Let's go." Wracking his brain, Sanji looks for any excuse to stay in the house longer. The front door is getting closer by the second. Then, it clicks.

"The food! What about the food!" Zoro raises an eyebrow, but continues to guide him towards the door, the swordsman grabbing his coat and keys on the way. "I need to put away the food!" With no hesitation, Zoro scoffs.

"Bullshit, you would never leave food out. Plus we were just in the kitchen, there was no food in sight. Come up with a better lie next time. Now stop struggling and move."

Sanji is dragged outside into the cold winter night with only one of his three jackets and his boots barely on his feet.

~~~~~

"We have been out here for an hour. _An hour_. Did you get us lost you fucking bag of lawn clippings?"

Zoro huffs at Sanji and gives him the side eye, both hands glued to the steering wheel of the old pick up truck.

"Bag of lawn clippings? I thought I heard them all, but that's a new one." His eyes flick back to the road. "And I'm not lost."

Sanji rolls his eyes at the other man's statement. Zoro could get lost in a fucking cardboard box. Declaring that he was not lost inspires as much confidence as a captain declaring that the ship is not sinking from a lifeboat while watching the ship quickly fall into the cold, dark ocean.

"Sure. So we have been driving away from the city for the past twenty minutes _why_?" 

Zoro's eyes seem to light up when he mentions this. "Because that's where we’re heading." 

Sanji throws up his hands, exasperated.

"So we drove around the city for fourty fucking minutes just to get out of the city!? It should take half of that to reach the city limits!" Zoro mutters something under his breath about the streets moving, and Sanji gives up. “Just let me know when we get there. Thank god this piece of junk has heating, or I swear I would have murdered you and let this truck crash an hour ago.” He crosses his arms and wiggles deeper into the seat. He isn’t going to stare at nothing while they drive to nowhere. Sanji closes his eyes and falls into a light slumber.

~~~~~

“-ke up. Wake up, shit cook!” The shaking of his shoulder brought him out of his ‘light’ slumber more than the voice calling to him.

“Huh-?” Sanji opens his eyes to a grinning Zoro. A rare sight, seeing the man smile a real smile at him. Not a smirk, but a genuine smile. Sanji wishes he could cherish it forever, but the moment is short lived.

“We’re here.” Sanji looks around. All he sees is faint light off in the distance.

“Where is ‘here,’ Marimo?” Zoro unbuckles his seatbelt and opens the car door, letting in a gust of cold air. Sanji shivers, pulling his singular coat tighter to his body.

“You have to get out and see for yourself.” He hops out of the truck and turns to shut the door. “And you might want to wipe the drool off of your face.” Sanji sputters, wiping away at his face with his sleeve while Zoro chuckles to himself and starts walking out towards the faint lights. 

Sanji huffs to himself. If he doesn't get out by himself Zoro will come back here and drag him out. Nothing is worse than being dragged out into the cold against his will. Again. He unbuckles his seatbelt, curses his temporary stupidity of tossing his gloves on the table instead of putting them in the jacket pocket, takes a deep breath, and opens the car door.

The cold air smacks him in the face like a wet fish, and Sanji has the misfortune of knowing exactly how that feels. It chills him to the bone in a matter of seconds and Sanji wishes for nothing but to go back home. He glances to the driver’s side of the car. Unfortunately, Zoro remembered to take the keys with him this time. Sanji curses to himself and slides out of the truck, shutting the door behind him. He peers around, searching for where the green haired man wandered off to. Scanning the area, Sanji spots him to the right of the truck, leaning over what appears to be a wooden fence, though it is hard to tell through all the snow. He starts trudging his way over to Zoro, his arms folded tightly against his body.

“Why are we out here? It's cold and dark and this is just stup- oh.” 

Zoro hums in agreement.

The city sits in the distance, far enough away to look like a snow globe held only a foot from view. The soft lights illuminate the darkness, sparkling like thousands of diamonds scattered over the pure white snow, outlining the city’s everlasting place on earth. But nothing can compare to the landscape that surrounds their city. The hills roll beyond the city limits and slowly turn into mountains. Crests and valleys of great rock stand tall, as if it were protecting the city from hostile invaders, ready to risk it all in a final battle. The mountains pierce the heavens with their mighty peaks, asking for aid, and aid the heavens did. The night sky is full of thousands of swirling stars that dance around each other, covering the entire sky as far as the eye can see, protecting the land from above. And, as much as Sanji hates to admit it, the snow makes everything better. It fits, perfectly blending the human structures and nature together to form a single, harmonious entity. 

“I know you said winter makes you feel lonely.” Sanji turns to look at Zoro, the man gazing longingly towards the horizon. “How vast and empty everything is.” The blond turns to face the city, while Zoro leans forward, resting his arms on the snow covered railing. “But I think it helps us realize how intertwined we all are. Sure, the endless snow is intimidating, but it also unifies us. Brings us together. We are all impacted by things out of our control, so we work together to make it easier on each other, whether we realize it or not. Strangers may not give you a second glance, but there are people who care for you-”, Sanji leans on the railing, his legs refusing to hold his weight any longer, “-who would give you the world without a second thought. So what if the world is vast and empty? A vast world is meant to be explored and it’s only empty because we have yet to give it our hopes, our dreams.” A pause. “Our legacies.” Zoro turns his head to look at Sanji. “You are not insignificant. There is only one you. You are one of a kind, just like a snowflake. And just like all of these snowflakes,” Zoro stands up straight and extends his arms gesturing to everything around them “there will always be someone with you.”

Sanji gapes at the other man. Was this the reason Zoro brought him out here?

“Was this the reason you brought me out here?” 

Zoro nods. “This seemed like the best way.” Zoro glances back at the city. “Sometimes all it takes is an outside perspective.”

“Ah.” Sanji shuffles his feet, unsure of how to respond. Zoro just threw a massive curve ball and Sanji doesn’t know how to dodge it. 

“Is this worth freezing your ass off?” Zoro asks, leaning back on the railing and gesturing to the view with a tilt of his head.

“Yeah… yeah. I think so.” Sanji knows that he doesn’t mean the view.

“Ah shit! Sorry, I fucked up.” Zoro smacks his forehead, shocking Sanji.

“What? What happened?” 

Zoro glances over, a shit eating grin taking over his face. He leans closer to Sanji, his nose only inches away from Sanji’s own.

“You have no ass to freeze off.” Zoro did not move away, nor did Sanji. It took a few seconds for Sanji to process what Zoro had said.

“You fuckin’ shit bastard mossman! You take that back!” 

Zoro leans back and laughs, giving off a smug aura that Sanji can not stand. So, he does the only reasonable thing. He takes a handful of snow and shoves it down onto the other man's head.

Zoro freezes.

Sanji freezes.

Zoro’s hand reaches up to touch the top of his head, feeling the cold snow slowly melt into water when it touches his fingertips.

“Did you just put snow in my hair?” 

Sanji sniffs, crosses his arms, and turns his chin up at the swordsman.

“I did. So what?”

“So…” Zoro leaps on top of Sanji, grabbing a handful of snow in the process. “What goes around comes around, Swirly!” He proceeds to smash snow into Sanji’s blond locks as the other man struggles to free himself from his grasp. He shoves Zoro off of him, resulting in them both tumbling into the snow. Grabbing another handful of snow, Sanji ignores his cold fingers and charges towards the other man, determined to pelt him in the face with what could loosely be defined as a snowball. Zoro has the same idea, meeting him head on. Smiles grow on both their faces as they knock away the snow from reaching their targets. To retaliate for the temporary loss, Sanji tackles Zoro to the ground, resulting in them tussling with each other, trying to get as much snow in the other’s face as possible. Sanji rolls on top of Zoro, the snow clenched in his hand ready for its final destination. Before Sanji can smash the snow into Zoro’s stupid, smug face, it falls from his hand back to join the endless supply of snow surrounding the two men.

They look at each other. Zoro lets out a chuckle, and so does Sanji. Within seconds they are both laughing together like children. Soon they are both gasping for air, whether from the snow scuffle or the laughing, neither can tell. Sanji looks down at Zoro, that small smile from the laughing fit still present on his face. Sanji feels his heart swell for Zoro. For the stoic gym rat who went out of his way just to make Sanji feel a little bit better. For the green swordsman who just wrestled with him in the snow because why the fuck not. For the man whose smile makes his heart absolutely melt. He loves Zoro.

“I love you.”

That.

That was not Sanji’s voice.

“Wh-What?” Sanji’s voice cracks.

Zoro clears his throat with a small cough.

“I uh… I love you.” He turns to look Sanji dead in the eye. “I love you, Sanji.”

Sanji feels his heart stop.

“No.” Is all he hears himself say.

“No?” Zoro parrots back, slowly processing what Sanji said. A defeated smile makes its way to Zoro’s face. “Ah. I get it. It’s okay. I don’t expect anything to change and I won’t act on these feelings. So let’s just pretend this never happened, okay?” Sanji shakes his head.

“No.” 

Zoro huffs at the response.

“What do you mean no?” He all but shouts at the blond man. “Do you want me to never see you again? Is that it?”

Sanji cries out in frustration. “No! Of course I don’t want that!”

“Then what do you mean?”

“I mean you aren’t supposed to be the romantic one! That’s my thing!” Sanji huffs, poking at Zoro’s chest. “You aren’t supposed to sweep me off my goddamn feet. You aren’t supposed to bring me out here to such a beautiful, romantic spot and fuckin’ - Argh!” He runs his fingers through his hair and sits back on Zoro’s stomach. The silence between them is dense.

“So… you don’t hate me?” Zoro slowly asks. Sanji shakes his head no. “And it’s alright that I’m in love with you?”

“Of course it’s alright! I’m in love with you too!”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. ‘Oh.’” Sanji glares down at the other man.

“So can I kiss you?” 

Sanji sputters, and turns his head to hide the blush creeping up his face, his ears a bright red. “I mean-”

He is jolted back as Zoro sits up, a hand coming around his waist to prevent him from falling into the snow. The hand also keeps Sanji in Zoro’s lap, forcing him to straddle the other man. 

“Can I kiss you?” Zoro repeats his question. Sanji can only nod, his ears burning.

Zoro moves in first, his lips slowly getting closer to Sanji's own. When Zoro is less than an inch away, he stops. He sits with perfect stillness, his lips hovering over Sanji’s and their hot breaths mixing together forming a small cloud in the cold winter air. Sanji may have been perfectly still, but his mind is running at top speed, trying to figure out what exactly is going on. Why aren’t they kissing? Why did Zoro stop? Did he change his mind? Why?

A gentle squeeze of his waist brings him back from his thoughts. Sanji's eyes flick up to meet Zoro's and he is met with hard eyes softened with love. And a hint of fear? Why is there fear? Is Zoro scared to kiss him? Is Zoro scared he won't kiss back?

Oh.

Zoro isn't kissing him to let Sanji decide. To make him feel comfortable, giving him an opportunity to back out. Sanji looks at Zoro's lips. What a nice gesture, but fuck that.

Sanji grabs Zoro's face with both of his hands and closes the distance between them, mashing their lips together in desperation.

It feels like coming home after being lost at sea for years. Like his soul is complete, as cliche as that sounds. Sanji stifles a groan, wrapping his arms around Zoro's neck, pulling himself as close as he possibly can to the swordsman. Zoro holds him tighter, as if he’s scared Sanji will run away. But Sanji wouldn’t give this up for anything. This is where he belongs.

The cold air whips around them, easily cutting through their clothes, but Sanji doesn’t notice. He feels warm.

~~~~~

They stop kissing after Sanji starts to shiver, and after checking the time, they realize that they’ve been kissing in the snow for nearly an hour. Sanji practically flies to the truck, scratching his way into the cold interior that will at the very least protect him from the wind. Zoro follows after, much more slowly than Sanji would have liked. He finally arrives at the truck and starts the engine, cold air from the vents blasting Sanji in the face.

"Shit that is fuckin' cold!" His teeth chatter as he switches the air off.

"Truck needs to warm up first."

"No shit Sherlock. Wish it would warm up faster though. " The front windshield is foggy, hard to see out of but Sanji tries anyway. To remember what the landscape Zoro brought him to looks like. He wants to remember this. Sanji turns to the other man and grabs his hand with both of his. "Thank you."

"Thank you? For what? Kissing you until we get hypothermia?" Sanji laughs, the cold lighting up his cheeks.

"Maybe. But I mean bringing me out here. Showing me this." He lets go with his right hand to gesture vaguely at the windshield. Zoro gives a quick nod.

"I meant every word of what I said out there." Zoro turns his hand to grasp Sanji’s and squeezes. "I will always be by your side." Sanji squeezes back.

Zoro has to remove his hand from Sanji's to get the truck moving, but as soon as it is set into drive and the heat is turned on he holds his hand out towards the blond man. Sanji takes it without hesitation. The silence is comfortable and so calming that Sanji wouldn't mind if Zoro got lost driving them back. Sanji squeezes his hand as a reminder that Zoro is there. He gets a squeeze back. He turns to look out the passenger window, resting his head on his hand. His breath fogs up the glass as he watches the endless hills covered in snow slowly pass by.

For the first time, Sanji does not feel alone in the endless winter. And he will never feel alone for the endless winters to come.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to both [LibbyLune](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibbyLune/pseuds/LibbyLune) and [startaroux](https://archiveofourown.org/users/startaroux/pseuds/startaroux) for helping me edit this fic! I really appreciate all the help and feedback you two gave me. I honestly can't thank you two enough. If you haven't read their fics you should go do that now, they are all fantastic.
> 
> Feel free to yell at me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/MarchThorn) or [Tumblr](https://marchthorn.tumblr.com/)


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